I have two little secrets…I am a “Morning Person” and Amish Apple Fritters are my favorite doughnuts!
For over 20 years, I had to be up at 5:30 A.M. every workday to leave by 6:30 to be in my office at 7:00 A.M., ready for a day’s work. These days I find myself in a different season of life…no children at home to get up and out of bed before leaving…AND my commute to the office these days is no more than walking upstairs to my home office, where I work for my husband’s company. My world has changed drastically!

My” new normal” is… instead of grabbing a large mug of coffee and shoving toast in my mouth while heading out the door as I did while working full-time, I now seem to revert to “boring” breakfasts such as oatmeal or toast and eggs…BUT… I do love a great doughnut or pastry occasionally. I mean, really, who doesn’t??? (if we’re truth-telling here).

I love to try new recipes and learn new cooking techniques in the kitchen, AND my favorite doughnut of all time is the humble, yet glorious Apple Fritter. One day, while looking at recipes on Pinterest, I saw one for Amish Apple Fritters, written by a great-grandmother named Polly. I could tell I would like this easy recipe from the very beginning (aren’t ALL recipes written by great-grandmothers wonderful?)…and sure enough…these apple fritters were amazing! Sometimes, a warm apple fritter and a strong cup of coffee are exactly what this old girl wants…(notice I did not say what this old girl needs… now THAT’S another story…) Hope you enjoy them…occasionally (wink wink)!

Here’s how easy they are to make…you’ll be a doughnut maker in no time:

Mix up the batter…

In a large bowl (or the bowl to a stand mixer), cream the sugar and eggs for 1-2 minutes with a mixer. To this, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and milk. Mix these ingredients well.

Add the chopped apples to the batter; mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix the chopped apples with the lemon juice. Using a spoon, add the apple mixture to the batter and stir well, to combine.

Heat vegetable oil to 375 degrees (use a deep-fry thermometer or use an electric skillet with a temperature control). It is very important to make sure the temperature is hot enough to fry the fritters correctly.

Large spoonfuls of dough are carefully put into hot oil…

Once the oil is at 375 degrees, scoop out really large tablespoonfuls of the fritter batter (as big as you can get ’em!) and carefully and gently slide the fritter into the hot oil.

Fritters are beginning to brown… they are cooked on both sides.

See in the photo above how they are starting to turn golden brown? This is a GOOD thing. When they get to a true golden brown color, carefully turn the fritters over to the other side (I used two spoons to carefully flip them) and continue cooking. (This should take approx. 2-3 minutes on each side).

Deep brown color… fritters are carefully turned to other side to continue cooking.

When the fritters become brown (see photo above) on both sides (you might have to flip them over again to make sure both sides are brown), then you know they will be ready and cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, remove the fritters, one at a time, to a paper-towel lined (several thicknesses) plate to drain and cool. Mix up the glaze, and paint it onto both surfaces of the cooled fritters. Let icing harden, then serve and enjoy!

Fritters are drained, then covered with glaze.

Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee, and take a big bite of that beautiful apple fritter!

Slightly crunchy on the outside, and full of apple goodness on the inside!

In a separate bowl, mix the chopped apples with the lemon juice. Using a spoon, add the apple mixture to the batter and stir well, to combine.

Heat vegetable oil to 375 degrees (use a deep-fry thermometer or use an electric skillet with a temperature control). It is very important to make sure the temperature is hot enough to fry the fritters correctly.

Once the oil is at 375 degrees, scoop out really large tablespoonfuls of the fritter batter (as big as you can get 'em!) and carefully and gently slide the fritter into the hot oil.

When they get to a true golden brown color, carefully turn the fritters over to the other side (I used two spoons to carefully flip them) and continue cooking. (This should take approx. 2-3 minutes on each side).

When the fritters become brown on both sides (you might have to flip them over again to make sure both sides are brown), then you know they will be ready and cooked through.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the fritters, one at a time, to a paper-towel lined (several thicknesses) plate to drain and cool.

To make a glaze for the tops of the fritters, mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla and water in a small bowl until you have a nice "paintable" glaze.

Using a pastry brush, brush this glaze over the entire top of the fritter. Let glaze harden slightly, turn it over and "paint" the glaze on the bottom. Place glazed fritters on wire rack; let glaze harden, then serve.

Notes

If you do not like glaze on your fritters, the author of this recipe also suggests sprinkling the hot "right out of the fryer" fritters with powdered sugar and cinnamon. For mine, I used the glaze option and they were perfect.Tip #1: These apple fritters are at their very best the first day you make them!Tip #2: If using self-rising flour as substitute for all purpose flour, omit baking powder and salt from the recipe.Tip #3: Once oil cools, strain it, store it in a container in refrigerator to use on another batch!

27 Comments on Amish Apple Fritters

Hi, Beverly! To be truthful, I am not really sure. I have only used raw chopped apples when I have made the fritters. My only concern would be that using pie filling (while really yummy) might make the dough too moist for best results. If you make these and they turn out fine using canned pie filling, please let me know. I would be very interested to find this out, too! Have a good evening, and thank you for writing.

Hello, Marjorie. I really don’t know the answer to your question. I have ONLY prepared them by deep frying them as in the recipe posted. The crispness in the nooks and crannies are enhanced by frying them in hot oil. Sorry to not be much more help in this. Have a good evening.

I have a pan from my great grandmother that my mom said it was for making these it has 7 round holes it is made of iron and if I remember right my mom said my great grandmother came from Denmark do you know if these pan is for making them and how it would be done.

Good morning, Jeanne! Thanks for writing. Unfortunately I do not know how to use an iron pan like that for making Apple Fritters. Perhaps your Great Grandmother baked them in it? Really sorry I don’t have an answer for you… perhaps others that see your comment in the future could shed some light on your question. I DO think you are so very fortunate to have that family heirloom… what a priceless treasure! Have a fantastic day.

Thank you, Beth! I wondered if it was for Aebleskivers (love them), but wasn’t sure there if there was some other “apple fritter” antique skillet of some sort out there! Appreciate your help on this! Have a great day.

Made these this morning and they were amazing! Perfect nostalgic treat for my husband. I’d never had them before, but I’m hooked now! I skipped the lemon juice and the apples were fine. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

Instead of lemon juice, you can keep them covered with water until you’re ready to use them, then strain the water off before using.

Don’t limit yourself to apple fritters – you can use all kinds of fruit. I once lived where a local family bakery made apple, pineapple (my favorite), cherry, strawberry, blueberry, and several other kinds of fritters. They had 8 flavors in all.

Good morning, Mary! The lemon juice is what prevents the apples from turning brown. It really won’t affect the taste of the fritters if you don’t use it, but the apples would be discolored. If you can handle that… then go for it! Hope you enjoy them, and thank you for taking time to comment.

Just made these for breakfast – great flavor but I had an issue cooking them through. I think initially the oil was too hot and my scoops were too big. Any suggestions on making them flatter, mine were more ball shaped. Thank you – can’t wait to try again.

Good morning, Susan! Sorry you had “an issue” cooking them through. The temperature of the oil is key… if too hot, they WILL brown too fast on the outside, giving the impression they are cooked through, before they really are! As far as the size of the scoops go… the suggestion I wold have (although I’ve never had to do it before) would be to lightly grease or butter your fingers (s batter won’t stick as much) and “smoosh” the heaping spoonful down into a slightly flatter shape, rather than a ball shape just before placing it into the hot oil. That might help as well. Wishing you a smoother go of it next time… and thanks for taking time to write! Have a fantastic day.